Broken
by BittenInCA
Summary: We were doing 120 miles an hour in reverse down the I 5, "Take the wheel!" "What," I asked sure that I heard wrong but I threw half of my body over the center console while trying to anchor the body hanging out the window shooting at the car behind us.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Vacation Over

_Fuck!_

My lungs felt like they would burst at any moment and my legs were burning, I had been on the chase after this guy for at least seven miles if not longer.

I had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. An off duty detective on vacation in a city out of my jurisdiction having dinner with a beautiful fucking woman I would have certainly been putting my dick in later if she would just shut the fuck up when I heard familiar popping sound coming from the back of the back of the restaurant.

"Get the fuck out of here and call 911 now!" I yelled to the woman whose name I couldn't remember as I headed in the direction the shots came from. There was a delayed reaction of disbelief and then the restaurant erupted with pandemonium. There was a mad dash towards the exits and the screaming was deafening around me. It was then that I realized that I was unarmed.

_Fuck!_

I walked cautiously unsure of what the fuck I was doing and why I was taking such a risk with no way to protect myself. But something in my gut was pulling me forward, making me take step after step closer to the still feet I could see poking out from around the corner where the rest of his body was hidden.

I could hear the quiet rustling of fabric from around that corner, and I could see the faint neon glow from what I was hoping was the exit sign over the door the perp would flee through. I crept forward at a painfully slow pace in the hopes of seeing the face of the man who shot the victim lying on the floor.

I peeked around the corner to find an African American male with long dreadlocks pulled into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was looking through the pockets of the victim and in his haste he had thrown his gun down near the knees of the victim and was now looking through his inside jacket pockets.

Something about this man seemed very familiar and even though I hadn't seen his face I somehow felt as if I knew who he was. I waited patiently to see if I could get a glimpse of the mans face when the front doors of the restaurant burst open as the police stormed in through the front. The mans head jerked up and our eyes locked for what seemed like minutes but was probably less then a second.

I could sense his slight shift towards the gun and jumped to put myself in front of it as he bolted towards the door. I picked it up chasing after him yelling over my shoulder to let the police know where he was. As I settled into a fast pace chase after the man who had just committed murder in the restaurant I was having dinner in I realized where I had seen the man.

Once a month for the past few years a copy of the FBI's ten most wanted would show up in my in box accompanied by a extremely dangerous person of interest list. Laurent Volturi a very skilled assassin and member of Chicago's notorious Volturi crime family was always on that fax.

_Fuck!_

I increased my speed, I had no other choice, I had to catch this guy. He was a trained fucking assassin and he had seen my face. My chances of making it through the week if this guy got away were slim to none.

From the burning in my legs we were rounding out the eighth mile of this chase, I rounded the corner into an alley to find Laurent poised and ready for me, aiming a Ruger pistol at me. I felt the burn in my chest before I realized that I had been shot. When my body hit the ground my head hit the street hard, I immediately felt blood saturating my scalp and running down my neck. I tried to focus on not losing consciousness when I saw him standing over me smiling.

My seconds were numbered and I knew it, I saw his lips moving but the ringing in my head was so loud I couldn't hear his words. I watched as he raised his hand and aimed the Ruger at my head. Oddly I found myself studying the way his hand held his pistol. The color of the wood grain and the shape of the barrel and suddenly his head snapped towards the street. He sneered at me and then ran climbing a chain link fence and disappearing into the night.

Moments later I was surrounded by Chicago PD officers who thought I was the perp. They screamed at me but their words made no sense, I tried over and over to explain but my voice was barely below a whisper. Finally a man who I assumed was a detective due to his suit walked up and assessed the situation. When he saw my lips moving he leaned down close to hear me, after a moment he pulled away and rolled me slightly to pull my wallet out of my back pocket. He opened my wallet and jumped up upon seeing my badge, his eyes wild with concern.

"He's on the job! Where the fuck is the ambulance, this guy is gonna fucking bleed out on the street." The frenzy around up kicked up a couple of notches when he announced I'm a cop, the detective kneeled down beside me and used his bare hand to put pressure on my wound. "My name is Detective Dean, the ambulance will be here any second. Is there anyone I can call for you?"

I fumbled around until I was finally able to pull my phone from my front jeans pocket, I pressed and held the 2 key until the phone started to dial and then I handed it to the detective. I could faintly hear him speaking hurriedly into the phone and then he pressed it against my ear.

"Edward, it's me son," my dad's voice sounded calm but I knew him well enough to decipher the strain and stress in his tone. "The detective is going to have you taken to University of Chicago Medical Center. I have many friends and colleagues who work there and will take very good care of you. From the description the detective gave me you will be going straight into surgery. Your mother and I will be there by the time you wake up son." He sounded so worried; it killed me to make him worry so much.

"Dad," my voice was barely a whisper.

"Don't try and talk Edward, it's ok," I could hear the panic setting in.

"Shhhhhh, Dad I love you, tell mom and Ali I love them so much ok." The pain that coursed through my body was so intense I began to shiver, I never heard my father's response. The phone was ripped from my ear as a paramedic began shouting orders as he examined my injuries. When the detective removed his hand from the gunshot wound the pain magnified to an extent that my body was no longer in control of itself.

Everything seemed hazy and in slow motion, the cops who stood around me looked mortified and the detective who was plugging my gunshot wound with his hand was covered in blood . . . . my blood. Then I heard it, shots ringing out in the open air. He was still coming for me, intent on killing me.

My body was in motion as the paramedics flanked by the Chicago PD got me safely into the back of the ambulance. Gunshots continued to ring out in all directions but I know longer had any sense of what was happening around me. I could hear the paramedic screaming for me to open my eyes but I was just too tired. I fell blissfully into a painless sea of blackness.

**Carlisle**

I must have looked like a fool which my mouth gaping as I listened to the detective explain that somehow Edward managed to be the only witness of a high level mob assassin murdering a high ranking captain in his own mob family. Edward was on a hit list now, the only witness and a very credible one at that.

The detective kept talking but it was difficult to focus knowing that the blood smeared all over his clothes and jacket came from my son. Esme must have felt the same.

"Detective, you must let us buy you a new suit, that is the very least we can do," my wife pleaded.

"Ma'am, that is completely unnecessary. I really do appreciate the generous offer but I can take care of it." He obviously had no idea who he was dealing with.

Esme tucked her brown bronze hair behind her ear and placed her hand on his forearm. "I simply will not take no for an answer," she said turning to me.

"Carlisle, please give him the address to the tailor you used to go to on Michigan Ave," she instructed.

"Of course," I answered smiling as best I could. "Love, I'm going to buy the detective a cup of coffee would you care for anything?" I asked trying to contain my emotions. Esme waived us off, and the two of us moved away from the waiting room to speak privately without alarming Esme.

"Detective Dean, please speak frankly. How much danger is Edward in? Will taking him back to Seattle resolve the problem and get him out of harms way?" I asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not sir, by this time the Volturi is already working on finding out who he is. Checking him in under John Doe will keep his identity under wraps for a while, the fact that your wife and yourself had the means to fly privately as opposed to commercial will buy even more time. I hate to say this but there are dirty cops out there, as long as I can keep this case under wraps I will but as soon as details become known, it will only be a matter of time until they learn your son's identity and come looking for him. Now, I have already taken the restaurant's reservation book and secured at the DA's office which means his name isn't out there. Your son and his date had not even been served their dinner so he didn't have an opportunity to pay with a credit card but it would take something as small as a hostess remembering your sons name and being threatened by the Volturi to make his identity known. Luckily in all my years on the force I have come across many restaurant staff who remember faces but never once have they remembered a name." My eyes were wide as the detective relayed all of this information.

"What should I do? How do I protect him?" I asked almost to myself.

"Normally I would suggest witness protection but I believe that you have the means to protect yourself far better then Federal Marshals can. My suggestion Mr. Cullen is that you get a hold of a lot of cash, a huge amount of cash and you find someone who can create a whole new identity for you son until he is well and can testify. Then, you can re-group and decide from there what you will do. If you need the name of someone, I can help you with that."

I shook my head trying to wrap my head around how quickly our entire lives changed and turned into am episode of the Saprano's. I shook my head running my hands through hair still trying to digest everything that had happened in the short five hours since I answered my phone expecting to speak to my son, my only son. Only to have a detective tell me that my son had been shot in the chest and was bleeding out in a Chicago alley. "I know someone who can help, someone local to us in Seattle."

The detective nodded and patted my shoulder reassuringly and began to leave. "Oh, Detective Dean. I stopped him pulling a business card out of my wallet and writing a name and address on the back. "This is the name of my tailor on Michigan, please go as soon as possible so I don't have to deal with my wife's fretting."

The detective smiled shaking his head. "She is a spitfire that one isn't she. This is really unnecessary Mr. Cullen, I don't want to take advantage," he explained.

My eyes quickly ran over the blood that covered the entire right sleeve of the detective's jacket. "Detective Dean, my son's blood is splattered all over you because you kept him alive when I couldn't. At this point there isn't anything that my family and I wouldn't do for you. I mean that, if you ever need anything, any damn thing, I had better be your first call." I hugged the man that saved me son, not an awkward man hug but a real hug and finally let him take his leave with the business card in hand.

The detective didn't know it yet but once the tailor had his sizes he would receive no fewer than ten suits that Esme found to be necessary complete with shirts, ties and shoes. Once Edward's twin Alice heard that the man saved her brother he would receive them monthly if not more frequently.

Alice. My daughter was alone in Seattle right now, action needed to be taken immediately. I pulled my phone out and hit the correct speed dial.

"Cullen Pharmaceuticals, how may I direct your call?" A cheerful voice chirped.

"This is Carlisle Cullen, I need to speak with Jasper Whitlock."

"Right away Mr. Cullen," the hold music had barely started when the line was picked up.

"Security how may I help you?" Another cheerful voice greeted me.

"This is Carlisle Cullen, I need to speak with Jasper Whitlock right away." I ordered brusquely.

"Certainly Mr. Cullen, one moment." The line went silent and in less than thirty seconds was picked up.

"Whitlock."

"It's Carlisle, my wife and I are in Chicago at the University of Chicago Medical Center, I need you to get here immediately. You are to leave Seattle in no more than one hour, bring five million cash with you, between the safe in my office and the safe in my home you should be able to cover that. You are to bring my daughter Alice with you, she is not going to make it easy for you but you get her here Jasper." My voice went very thick and raspy as I began speaking of my daughter, my baby girl. "I can't speak about the details over the phone but you must be very careful, make sure that you are not followed, and cover your tracks. Do not under any circumstances use the Cullen name in anyway and make sure Alice leaves all of her credit cards at home, do you understand?"

"Yes sir, and whatever it is rest assured, we can and will handle it." Jasper's voice was eerily calm and quiet.

I disconnected the call and went back with my wife to wait. She told me that a doctor had just been out to say that the surgery was going well but the damage was extensive. Edward would be in surgery for a minimum of four more hours. My training told me four probably meant six plus recovery time. Alice and Jasper would be here well before we would be able to see Edward.

Esme leaned against me and I put my arm around her shoulders hugging her tight to me as we got each other though every parent's worse nightmare.

**Jasper**

Carlisle was a calm cool motherfucker, whatever it was that prompted him to make that call was bad, really bad. I grabbed my Bluetooth earpiece and several extra cell phone batteries from my desk drawer as well as my phone and wall charger and dumped them in a backpack. I grabbed a large duffle bag from the corner of my office and emptied it of my hockey gear, it smelled but it would more than do the job.

I headed down to Carlisle's office nodding at his secretary who watched me warily but didn't question me. I thought that was odd but I didn't have time to think about it too much. It only took minutes for me to crack Carlisle's safe and empty it of all the cash into the duffle bag. Once that was done I rushed to my truck and made it to the Cullen's home in Medina relatively quickly.

Breaking in and overriding the alarm was ridiculously easy, I would need to speak with Carlisle about this. I made my way to his study where I had interviewed with Carlisle four short months ago. While in the study I had zero'd in on a painting immediately and instinctively knew there was a safe behind it. As I moved the picture I smiled smugly as I saw I was correct. It took even less time to crack the safe in Carlisle's study than it did to crack the safe in his office.

I quickly emptied all of the cash into the duffle bag when I saw a stack of passports, I picked them up and threw them in the bag as well, because you never know. Once I had everything I needed I opened up Carlisle's file cabinet and flipped through until I found what I was looking for, a file labeled 'Alice's Condo'. I opened it and made note of the address, it was back downtown at The Olivian, very nice. I shut the file and picked up a picture frame on Carlisle's desk. I recognized Carlisle and Edward; there was a woman who was clearly Carlisle's wife and a younger woman who looked the part of Edward's twin with medium brown/bronze hair and bright green eyes.

I locked the house up behind me and started my drive back to downtown Seattle. On the way I put in my earpiece and started making calls. First I procured a jet to take us to Chicago, easily convincing an old associate to file the trip as a pilot drop off to bring another jet back to Seattle.

Now all I had to do was figure out how I was going to waltz into Alice Cullen's apartment and convince her to get on a jet with a complete stranger and fly to Chicago. I arrived much to quickly and made my way up to the 25th floor. As the door to the elevator opened I took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator and started making my way down the corridor to Alice Cullen's apartment. I didn't make it far.

As I turned the corner I saw a very, very short woman with hair that fell almost to her waist pacing in front of her apartment. When she heard my steps her head snapped in my direction and her eyes narrowed at me. I stopped walking towards her, as I was unsure of what to do. I stood watching her warily she began walking towards me so quickly her hair blew out behind her as if there was a strong wind blowing at her.

I had to stop myself from taking a step back as she advanced on me, she stopped mere inches from me and watched my face carefully. "Who sent you," she demanded. Her voice was girly and sweet despite the fact that she was obviously upset and confused, and what was she doing out here waiting? Carlisle made it seem as if she didn't know anything.

"Your father sent me," I said softly trying to be as non-threatening as possible. I watched as many emotions passed over her delicate features. She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them they were bright and shiny with tears she was trying hard not to shed.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked with obvious stress and fear.

"Chicago."

Her tears finally began to spill over. "What happened to my brother?"

I shook my head slowly, I wanted to reach out and comfort her but something held me back. "I don't have any information Alice, your father told me to come get you and take you to Chicago. He told me to keep it quiet and leave no traceable evidence of our departure, he said he would fill me in on all the details when we arrive in Chicago."

Alice's tears began to slow and I almost saw a shift as she decided that she needed to be strong for her family. She gestured for me to follow as she walked into her apartment. "How long should I pack for?"

The truth was that I didn't know but Alice looked a little high maintenance and I couldn't have us bogged down with a bunch of luggage in case we were followed and needed to make a fast get away or worse. "Three days," I answered carefully. "And Alice, it is very important that we blend in and not bring unwanted attention to ourselves. We have no idea what the situation is so at this point we have to assume it is the worse case scenario."

Alice nodded and turned to go into her apartment, I followed quietly stopping in the entryway. She got halfway down the hall and turned back to me. "Will you come and keep me company while I pack?"

I nodded and followed her down the hall to her bedroom, I sat at the edge of her bed as she pulled a large suitcase out of her walk in closet. I smirked a little, amused at how right my original assessment was. "Sorry Alice, that's not going to work."

Alice hung her head and I immediately felt guilty, she came and sat on the edge of the bed next to me looking completely defeated. "Will you do it?" She asked in a voice so small I felt a tug at my heart.

I nodded and got up walking silently into her closet, I found a duffle bag and a backpack and got to work. I picked out two pairs of jeans, some long and short sleeve tee shirts and then I walked to some drawers in the corner of her closet. I took a deep breath and opened the top drawer to find a sea of lace in every color of the rainbow. I immediately shut the drawer and opened the next drawer sighing in relief as I saw nice safe cotton.

I stuck with white and threw in several pairs of underwear and bras trying my hardest to not feel like a dirty perv.

The next drawer made me smile, she had no white socks in her sock drawer. She had stripes, polka dots, argyle, hearts, smiley faces and just about every other pattern you could think of. I picked out four pairs that I thought were the most ridiculous and then threw in some more just because.

I shoved some shoes on the top of the bag and then zipped it up. Then I picked out a more appropriate outfit and took and set it on the bed next to her. "I need you to change into this ok," I said quietly. Alice didn't look up she just nodded her head and pulled the clothes into her lap.

I turned and walked into her bathroom with the backpack and threw in the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash from her shower. Then I turned to her vanity and threw in her brush, hair thingies, some hairspray, mouse, gel, moisturizer, and uh. . . women products.

There was a makeup bag on her sink, I threw that in the backpack as well and then zipped it up, I had been here less than twenty minutes and we were ready to go. I looked into the mirror just in time to see Alice pull her dress up over her head and thrown it on her bed. She was completely on autopilot as she pulled on the long sleeved white tee shirt I had laid out for her and than the pink short sleeve shirt on top of it. Next she put on a very soft faded pair of 501 jeans that looked like she had them for years. She buttoned up the fly and then pulled on the socks and Puma's, she was ready to go. It was then that I realized that I had just watched this poor unsuspecting girl dress herself.

I mentally bitch slapped myself and quickly walked to her closet taking a pea coat off a hanger and at the last minute shoved a scarf and mittens in the pockets of the coat. I walked out to find Alice still sitting on the edge of her bed. "Ready to go Alice?" Alice nodded and got up walking absently to the living room. I sighed and grabbed a very worn and loved looking stuffed bunny off of her bed and shoved it in the backpack.

I got to the living room and found Alice standing at the door with her purse, I sighed again and gently took it from her opening it and taking out all of her bank cards leaving her with only her ID. "We will be paying cash for everything," I explained quietly handing her back her purse.

Alice looked up at me with wide eyes and took a small wallet out of her purse putting her lip stuff and ID in it. She then opened a drawer in the table of her entryway and took out a huge wad of hundred dollar bills and an IPod. There was at least five grand in the wad, she handed it to me with the IPod and I shoved them in her duffle bag not wanting to tell her that we had enough cash to fund a small nation sitting in my truck.

We made it down to the private airfield and were seated in the jet in record time. We took off exactly fifty-four minutes after I hung up with Carlisle. I had no idea what we were going to face in Chicago but after everything I had been through in my life I knew I could handle it and get everyone through it alive.

I glanced briefly at Alice from the side, I knew that I would do whatever it took to get this girl's family through whatever ordeal this was in tact. Something told me I couldn't handle seeing her mourn the people she loved. As the jet fired up and began to taxi I put on my sunglasses and took care to keep my eyes forward, I had a job to do and had to stay focused to do it.

"Alice," I said softly. I saw her head turn towards me out of the corner of my eye, "It's time for you to find the place within you that makes you strong. I have no idea what we are walking into but I know that whatever it is, it's going to be stressful and chaotic. You need to be strong to get through it."

She nodded and looked straight ahead again. "Try and get some sleep Alice," I commanded gently. She nodded and closed her eyes.

"Hey," she said softly. "What's your name?"

My eyes grew wide with disbelief, what kind of fucking douche bag rifles through a girls underwear drawer, watches her get dressed, tosses her on a jet taking her out of state without ever having introduced himself?

I snatched the sunglasses off of my face and turned to her. "Alice, I am so sorry, my manners have been atrocious. My name is Jasper Whitlock, I work for your father at Cullen Enterprises as the head of security. Please forgive my thoughtlessness." My southern drawl emerged in spades as I rambled.

Alice never opened her eyes, she snuggled down in her seat and smiled smugly. "You're forgiven."

The next thing I knew I was waking up from a deep sleep, it took me a moment to get my bearings but when I did I realized that Alice was resting her head against my arm and holding my hand in a vice grip. I considered untangling myself from her but decided that whatever made her feel better was all right with me. At least that's what I told myself.

I checked my watch and was relieved to find that we would be landing in about a half hour. My mind wandered back to Carlisle and the conversation we had earlier. It was the stress and fear in his voice that had resonated, and kept me on high alert. As I reviewed every word of our conversation again Alice began to stir, I gently slipped my hand from her grip before she fully woke up to keep her from feeling self conscious.

I was pleased that she seemed calm and self assured when she woke up, she was still quiet, but the change in her demeanor was obvious.

As soon as the jet touched down I sent Carlisle a text letting him know we were landing, I grabbed our bags and led Alice off the jet immediately. As soon as we got out to the front of the private airport we were able to procure a taxi, which I had take us directly to the hospital.

As soon as we stepped through the automatic sliding doors of the hospital Alice broke into a run throwing herself into Carlisle's arms. They spoke a few words softly and without looking back Alice walked to the elevator presumably to find her family.

As soon as Alice was out of sight Carlisle nodded at me. "Jasper, thank you so much for doing this. I can't tell you how grateful I am to see Alice here. I don't know what you did to get her in jeans and tennis shoes. You must be a miracle worker," he said smiling weakly.

"Carlisle, tell me what's going on," I urged.

Carlisle led me to the cafeteria and we sat with strong coffee that could burn holes through iron as Carlisle told me about the call he received from Edward's phone which turned out to be a detective. I tried to remain unaffected and calm as he told the story but upon mention of the Volturi I visibly stiffened. This did not go unnoticed by Carlisle. "I need someone to tell me what to do at this point Jasper. I will do whatever it takes to keep my family safe I just don't know how to do that."

I sat for a moment thinking through the details he had given me, Carlisle had no idea the danger his family was in nor did he know how he had already compounded that danger.

"Carlisle, when will he be stable enough to move?" I asked careful to keep any inflection out of my voice.

"His recovery will be long but he should be stable enough to move in two or three days. What's going on Jasper?"

"I need a couple of hours to get things in order Carlisle, in the meantime you are to stay with Alice and Esme. As soon as you are able to see Edward the three of you need to stay with him. They will give you a hard time about the whole one visitor at a time rule but you need to do or say whatever is necessary get the three of you in that room. Everyone stays together, do you understand?"

Carlisle gulped but nodded, "While I am gone you are all to take your batteries out of your cell phones and then throw them away, do not under any circumstances use them again, do you understand?"

Carlisle nodded again his eyes growing wider with every word. He looked scared but at this point being scared was just good common sense.

"Do you have a home out of the country?" I asked.

"Yes, we have a home in Italy and a home in France."

I nodded as my plan began to take shape. "Call your hotel and have them check you out and deliver your luggage to the airfield. Have the pilot file a flight plan to France leaving tonight. I will be back in a couple of hours once I have some things in place. Until then batteries out of cell phones, no credit cards, no advertising your names, and stay together at all costs."

Carlisle nodded and left for the elevator, once he was gone I pulled out my phone and scrolled though the contacts list for a number I called only under the worst of circumstances.

"Well, well, well, long time no talk. To what do I owe this pleasure, or will I regret having answered at all?"

"I need your help," I sighed and then began to give the necessary details.

**Carlisle**

Edward was a mess, a very serious mess.

If you could consider anything about this situation lucky it would have to be that Detective Dean had the presence of mind to plug the hole in Edward's chest with his fingers until the paramedics arrived and that my old friend and colleague Dr. Jackson was the Chief Resident at this hospital. He was part of the team that performed the painstaking surgery on Edward and handpicked the very best surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses to heal my son.

It would be two or three days before Edward would be stable enough to move and it would be risky to move him. After seeing Jasper's reaction to my explanation, I was sure we had no choice, the sooner we could move Edward, the better off he would be.

Relaying the details of the situation to Alice had been agony, she and Edward had been extremely close their entire lives. They had no secrets, their loyalties were to each other first, Edward would literally die for Alice if she would let him, which she wouldn't. I expected the worst possible reaction and although it wasn't pretty, Alice stayed relatively calm and as strong as steel. She was determined to get her twin and soul mate of sorts through this.

Edward was in a deep sleep due to insanely strong pain medications and sedatives. Alice, Esme, and I sat quietly waiting. Waiting for Edward, waiting for Jasper, waiting for our fears to become realities.

Three hours after Jasper left he popped his head in the door and motioned for me to come out into the hall. I walked out to the hall and came to an abrupt start as I saw Jasper standing next to three men. They were all of average height and weight, there was nothing menacing about their appearance and yet they all exuded the same silent message that Jasper did, _messing with me would be a big mistake, your last mistake._

"Carlisle I would like to introduce you to some associates of mine, this is Liam, Garrett, and Alistar. They will be hitching a ride with us to Seattle and sticking pretty close with us until then. I shook hands with the three men and then Jasper send them a silent message, the three of them went in different directions but still stayed relatively close.

Once we were alone Jasper turned to me, "This afternoon Edward Cullen will be released from the hospital. He and his family will board a private family jet headed for Paris where round the clock medical professionals have been hired and have already set up in the Cullen's Paris villa. Four people will board that jet, authentic Cullen passports will accompany those people. At the same time a homeless man will be admitted, a John Doe. This man will have no ID and will be unconscious. He will be brought in by a young woman who runs the homeless shelter where he was found, the young woman and her family will take great interest in his recovery."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Jasper. . . how?"

"It's better to ask questions that you don't really want to know the answers to Carlisle. When will we be able to move Edward?" He asked.

I was learning quickly that when dealing with Jasper it was best to be concise and to the point. "Two to three days."

Jasper nodded and continued laying out his plan. "I have a team in place in Seattle, we will be taking Edward to your old hospital Virginia Mason. You have many friends there who owe you many big favors but there is only so much friendship can do. The plan we have put in place will cost. My team has done a thorough search of the hospital, they have found an old storage area in the basement that has been abandoned. It is accessible by one elevator which will be going out of order soon, the only other access is a door that from the looks of it has not been used in years from the outside leading to a stairwell. They are clearing out the storage area and turning it into a hospital room. It will meet the standards of all of the other rooms in the hospital.

In addition they will be sectioning off quarters that they themselves will use. The thing is Carlisle, you and your family wont be able to visit Edward while he is there. The Paris ruse will only last for a little while before they figure it out. Once that happens you and your family will be watched day and night, you will lead them right to him. I promise you he will be safe, the people that I have brought in to protect and care for Edward are trained to defend and protect against far more competent and dangerous enemies than the Chicago mob."

"It will be difficult for me but for Edward's safety I can make the sacrifice of not seeing him, Esme will be very difficult but in the end she will do what is best for him. Alice is another story, she and Edward are twins, they will not be separated Jasper, we will need to figure something out otherwise Alice will take it upon herself to find a way to see him."

Jasper nodded as he thought through this information. "She will need to decide, she can stay in the basement with Edward and our team or she can stay on the outside until he is well enough to be moved to a safe house."

I knew what Alice would choose but we needed to give her the choice regardless. "Ok, I will talk to her and see what she wants to do."

Jasper shook his head. "I will speak with Alice, it's time for you and your wife to get some rest. Liam and Alistar will take you both to a hotel where you will stay for 12 hours. Garrett and I will stay here with Alice and Edward. We will trade off in twelve-hour shifts until we can move Edward, no compromises or arguments will be tolerated. In order to ensure everyone's safety we must all be rested and thinking clearly."

I nodded and went into the hospital room to collect Esme, when we emerged a little while later we were led to a car in the parking garage and taken to a mid level hotel and a small tacky room. The men were in the room next door explaining that having to men outside your hotel room door would bring attention and that we were to bang on the wall or just yell if we needed anything.

When we were finally settled in bed I lay there unable to clear my mind enough to sleep while Esme tossed and turned beside me before finally throwing herself of her back in a huff.

"Talk to me," I urged softly.

"I'm never going to be able to relax enough or stop thinking long enough to sleep Carlisle," Esme said with frustration.

I got up and went and got the bottle of cheap scotch Alistar had given me before we departed and poured some into the two plastic cups the hotel provided handing one to Esme.

We each threw the liquor down our throats in one swallow and I poured more into the plastic cups. We swallowed the second cup in one gulp again and then I went to the foot of the bed pulling the covers off of Esme and then began kneading her foot.

Esme's head fell back and she murmured her approval. "What are you doing Carlisle?" Esme whispered.

I chuckled softly at her throaty voice, which was betraying the arousal that was overtaking her. "I am distracting and relaxing you so that you can sleep dear."

Esme's rolled her head forward and met my gaze, her eyes were dark and hooded with lust causing a smug, lazy smile to slowly stretch across my face. I set her foot down and crawled up to the head of the bed kissing her urgently as my fingers made their way into her panties checking for readiness.

"What no foreplay Dr. Cullen?" Emse moaned.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I'll fuck you so hard you'll forget we skipped that part ok," I said roughly as I tore her panties down her legs.

We were successfully distracted, and soon we would fall into a post-orgasmic slumber.

**Jasper**

When I walked into the hospital room Alice looked up and her face went from worry and despair to a light and beautiful smile that lit up her green eyes like a Christmas Tree. Before I could stop myself I returned her smile with a grin of my own. Then I remembered, this type of intrusion could distract me from doing my job. A distraction like that could get this beautiful, effervescent, ridiculous girl killed.

I cleared my throat and explained what the visitation situation would be once we reached Seattle. Alice insisted that it would only be over her dead body that she and her brother would be separated. Once I gave her the bare bones minimum of information she would need about the arrangement she would be entering into, she very carefully climbed into the hospital bed with her brother and whispered something in his ear giggling. Call me crazy but I swear I saw his lips twitch. I could see with perfect clarity that Edward and Alice were about as close as two humans could be. Alice fell into a fitful sleep as I watched over her and her brother.

Intellectually I knew I was developing feelings for this girl, I knew I should go to Carlisle and tell him that I couldn't be involved in this. I almost did, several times before he left for the hotel but I couldn't. The thought of leaving her safety to someone else made me nauseous. I would do what needed to be done, I would ensure her safety at all costs.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, a welcome distraction from my inappropriate thoughts, I fished it out and opened up the text I received.

'**Set up underway. Accommodations for extra body will be easily complied with. What is the status of the asset?'**

'Thank you for working so quickly. The asset has gotten through surgery and is heavily medicated. We will be ready to move in 2-3 days. Are the backups in place?'

'**Please Jasper, this is elementary don't insult me. Call when you have a moment so that we may review the locations of the backups in detail and Jasper until you are where I can keep an eye on you, please be safe."**

I smiled as I read the last two words, the standard sign off for people in our line of work.

'I will do my very best if you promise the same, be safe.'

'**I promise, ttyl.'**

I smiled and glanced at my two charges in the hospital bed, their heads were tilted towards one another, foreheads touching. Their hair was identical in color to the point where in their current position you couldn't tell where Edward ended and Alice began. They had the same eye shape and color, the same shape to their lips, the same cheekbones, but that's where it ended. Alice's face was heart shaped like her mother with a slightly pointy chin and a delicate nose with just a touch of a turn up at the end. Even in her sleep there was a lightness about her, something that drew people in. Edward looked as if he had been chiseled from marble. His jaw squared with a dimple, his nose thin with a slight bump, no doubt a souvenir of his profession, a souvenir that I had in common with all of my colleagues.

As I continued to gaze upon them Alice began to stir and slowly woke, her eyes went immediately to the chair I sat in and she smiled brightly when her eyes met mine. My heart leapt in my chest and although I tried not to, I grinned at her like an idiot.

"You're here," Alice said breathily.

I had to get this under control; I forced myself to smile politely at her. "Of course I am, that's my job."

Hey smile immediately faded and I wanted to punch myself. "Right, babysitting 101 you must be present," She snapped.

She turned and kissed Edward on the cheek again whispering something in his ears. His body visibly relaxed and it was easy to see that Alice would be integral to her brother's recovery. She carefully got out of her bed and sat in the chair next to it. She refused to look at me, her anger was evident, I had hurt her feelings.

I took her IPod out and set it at the edge of the hospital bed in front of her, she sighed deeply grabbing it putting the buds in her ears. "Thank you," she mumbled so quietly I almost didn't hear her.

I pulled a Sudoku book out of my backpack along with a pencil and began a puzzle, and that was how we spent the remainder of our time. By the time Carlisle and Esme returned the tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Alice was keeping up her strict _you hurt my feelings so fuck you _policy and I had no choice but to comply. Because I have no hold, no claim, no stake on her, fuck she is turning me into a chick and I haven't even kissed her! And now I'm thinking about kissing her.

I watched in silence as Carlisle and Esme greeted their daughter and then I stepped into the hall with Carlisle.

"Preparations are already under way for Edward's hospital stay in Seattle, I have been assured that everything will be ready when we arrive. You and Esme will be allowed to go with us so that you can inspect the room and equipment to make sure they are to your standard. After that you will not see him again until he is well enough to move, same goes with Alice. She has chosen to stay with Edward which means you will not see either of them until Edward's recovery is at a point where he is able to assist in his own defense."

Carlisle nodded in agreement but his eyes were tormented at the thought of his family being split up.

"It's going to keep you all safe Carlisle. Please keep in mind that the longer we are able to keep Edward safe the more you will convince yourself that there is no threat. That is what they are counting on, your complacence. Once you decide to take risks that are outside of what we have outlined you will come to learn the hard way that the mob has a long memory and will not stop until they get what they want," I explained as gently as possible.

"Are you saying it's going to be like this forever?" Carlisle asked with shock.

"That's for Edward to decide when he is strong enough. He will have many options as to how he will choose to live his life, in hiding will be one of the options."

I could tell by Carlisle's expression that he would need some time to digest this information. "Garrett and I need to get going with Alice, we need to recharge so we can get back here."

Carlisle agreed with a silent nod and we both entered the hospital room. "Alice are you ready," I asked silently.

Alice got up and hugged her Mom and Dad silently. Esme was clearly distraught by Alice's demeanor but remained silent as Alice followed me out of the hotel room. Once we were in the hall I stopped and turned to face her. Your mother is worried sick about you, do you really want to leave her in that state for the next twelve hours when she should be focused on your brother?"

Alice blanched and then quickly regrouped. I could physically see her winding up to set me straight but I had other plans. "Listen midge, you are acting selfish and immature. Get your ass back in there and blame it on the stress and apologize to your Mom and Dad. Give then a proper hug and kiss and make it snappy so we can get out of here," I snapped.

Alice opened her mouth as if to say something and then snapped it shut. She stood there for several seconds staring a hole through me. "Anytime now Alice," I said exasperated. She narrowed her eyes at me and then spun on her heel marching back into the hospital room. I laughed quietly after her but stopped suddenly as I sensed Garrett approaching.

"Man, she is going to be trouble," He observed, I nodded in agreement, he sighed and clapped his hand on my shoulder. "I'm gonna bring the car around, Alistar dropped the keys with me already, I'll meet you in front." I nodded and waited patiently for Alice's return.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Finally the door opened and Alice threw one last beautiful smile over her shoulder to her parents, as soon as the door shut the smile dissolved and she gave me an evil withering glare that actually made me shudder.

"Well Whitlock, are we leaving or are you just going to stand there like a lost puppy all day?"

She began walking ahead of me and I had to smile at her because that shit was hot! I caught up to her easily and grabbed onto her arm. "You are not to walk in front or behind Miss Cullen, one of us is to be by your side at all times." I stated firmly.

Alice rolled her eyes and kept walking as I kept pace beside her, taking her duffle bag and backpack swinging them easily over my shoulder.

Once outside I steered her towards the car and began to open the backdoor for her but she stopped me, reaching her hand out to cover my own on the handle.

"Promise me you wont ever treat me like that again. Please," She pleaded quietly.

"Like what Alice?" I asked tilting my head and studying her face with confusion.

Alice averted her eyes as she answered. "Like I'm just a paycheck. Like you would stand aside and watch me die if your hand wasn't in Carlisle Cullen's cookie jar."

I inhaled sharply horrified that those thoughts ever ran through her mind. "Do you really believe that Alice?" I asked, my tone sharp with anger and frustration.

"I don't want to," she murmured looking up at me through her lashes.

Before I could stop myself I gently lifted her chin with thumb and forefinger and because I absolutely have lost all semblance of control I ran the pad of my thumb across her cheek. "I will protect you at all costs Miss Cullen, monetary or otherwise for reasons that have nothing to do with Carlisle Cullen." With that I opened the car door. "Get in the car Miss Cullen," I ordered softly.

Alice smiled at me and got in the back seat scooting over so I could climb in beside her. Garrett raised his eyebrows at me in the rearview mirror but said nothing, and so began the silent ride to the hotel as Garrett and I continuously looked in the mirrors and all around to ensure that we were not being followed when suddenly Garrett made a turn that took us off course.

"On our six, 4 cars back, black Cadillac sedan," Garrett barked.

"Alice get down," I ordered and she complied her eyes wide with fear.

I turned in my seat and spotted the car, which was gaining on us. Now that they knew we had spotted then there was no need for them to hide their presence. "Do you want me to shake um J?" Garrett asked.

"Yeah, we can't play cat and mouse with them while we are in possession of an asset," I said quickly. Before I had finished the sentence Garrett had accelerated and we were flying through downtown Chicago at over eighty miles an hour. Garrett made many twists and turns and before long we had lost the car that was following us.

"Garrett," I started.

"I know just the place," he responded, and I was grateful to be working with people who knew what they were doing.

I pulled out my phone and called Alistar who said there had been no signs of trouble, he said he would arrange that Edward be switched to a different room just in case and then hung up stating he would send hourly texts.

I hung up and sighed glancing at Alice who was huddled down in the footwell of the backseat and smiled in amusement meeting Garrett's eyes in the rearview. He glanced back and upon seeing Alice we both had to stifle our laughter. She had her head tucked and her hands over her head like she was in an earthquake drill.

Once we were able to wipe the smirks off our faces I called out to her. "Alice, it's safe now. You can get up."

Alice slowly looked up at me, she was trying so hard to keep her brave face on but her eyes were wide with fear. I instantly felt guilty for being amused by her fear, I offered her my hand and helped pull her onto the backseat. Her tiny body was shaking and I met Garrett's eyes again in the rearview mirror, he lifted the jacket from his suit off of the front passenger seat and handed it to me. Alice was going into shock.

I quickly took the jacket wrapping it around her and rubbing her arms and speaking softly to her. "Alice, you need to calm down, take long deep breaths Alice." But she didn't, it was as if she didn't hear me at all. I pulled her to me wrapping my arms tightly around her, "Alice breath with me," I commanded as I began taking deep breaths. After a couple of breaths she began to follow suit and the shaking began to subside.

After several long moments she pulled away looking up at me apologetically. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened to me," she said sheepishly.

I shook my head and admonished her quietly. "You have nothing to apologize for Miss Cullen, you did great."

Alice rolled her eyes and I smiled knowing she was getting back to being herself. "You didn't start calling me Miss Cullen until we were arguing, could you please go back to calling me Alice?"

"That depends," I said smiling. "Are you going to keep calling me Whitlock?"

Alice's smile returned but didn't quite reach her eyes, there was something knocking around in that beautiful head of hers. The gravity of the situation had finally been impressed upon her, she understood that this wasn't a game and that people she loved were at risk, she was at risk. I could see it changing her right before my eyes.

"Can we stop at the drugstore Jasper, I would like to get a few things," She asked sweetly. I looked to Garrett who gave silent approval with his eyes, a few minutes later we pulled into a drugstore and Alice began to open the door and let herself out.

"Whoa," Garrett and I both exclaimed at the same time.

"What?" Alice gasped, startled by our reaction.

I reached over taking her hand off of the door handle and set it firmly in her lap as Garrett got out of the car. "Garrett will do a quick sweep of the store and then when he is satisfied that it is safe he will open the door for you and we will walk to the front of the store together. Garrett will stay just inside where he can see who is coming in and I will stay with you." I explained, certain I was going to get some static for this.

Sure enough Alice rolled her eyes and huffed. "Do you really think that the Chicago mafia is hiding out in a random CVS on the off chance that we might be strolling in and giving them their big break?" Alice asked.

I looked at her with amazement, after what she had just experienced how could she be so cavalier? "I think a better question Alice, is are you 100% sure that there is not some Mafioso in that random CVS who is going to earn his stripes today because he happened to be in the right place at the right time and murdered Edward Cullen's sister and the two dipshits who were with her and didn't do their jobs."

Alice stared at me mouth gaping and then slowly shut it shaking her head. "I'm sorry Jasper, I am having a difficult time accepting that this is my reality now," She murmured.

I sighed, sorry that I had to be so harsh, more sorry that she made it a necessity. Just then Garrett opened the door for her and we all walked into the CVS.

Garrett stayed just inside the door while I followed Alice. She picked up a read basket and seemed to know exactly what she wanted, I stayed close but gave her space to do her thing. We were walking towards the cash register when something caught her eye and she ended up in the liquor aisle.

She picked up several airplane sized bottled of vodka and then put them down opting for a small bottle instead and then took a few steps towards the register and turned exchanging the bottle for the larger economy sized. I smirked but said nothing, the girl deserved a fucking drink.

She picked up some orange juice and we finally made it to the register, the cashier scanned all of the items and I pulled my wallet out to pay. "One oh seven thirty seven," the cashier announced with a bored expression. My eyes widened in surprise and I even saw Garrett's head whip around when he heard the total. I glanced briefly at the bags and heard Alice sigh impatiently beside me.

She grabbed my wallet out of my hands and pulled some bills out handing them to the cashier. "Could you please give me a teeny tiny itsy bitsy break Jasper? I mean does everything have to be a big fucking deal including paying for my nail polish and vodka. I swear to Christ this is the most difficult relationship I have never been in and I'm not even going to get laid." She snapped shoving my wallet back into my hands and stalking over to Garrett who looked like he was about to piss himself.

The cashier grinned at me handing me the bags, I recovered myself enough to sneer at him and then shuffled to the door where Garrett and Alice waited. When we finally got to the new hotel she was still in a foul mood.

Alice walked into the small ugly room while Garrett and I talked for a moment in the hall, "You go ahead and get some sleep Garrett, text me when your up and I'll get some shuteye."

"Ok J, good luck with that," he said gesturing towards the room Alice walked into. I rolled my eyes and walked into the room. Alice was in the bathroom, she was very quiet which made me a little nervous but at least she wasn't yelling at me. I took off my shoes, socks and shirt so I was left in my jeans and a wifebeater and then I laid down on one of the double beds and turned the TV on and got sucked into a kung fu movie.

After about a half hour the shower turned on, I mentally shrugged again and went back to my movie. A half hour later the door to the bathroom finally opened and Alice slowly walked out into the room.

My jaw must have dropped right to the floor as Alice came into view. She had cut her hair short and dyed it pitch black. As soon as she saw my expression she began crying and sinking to the ground.

I managed to catch her and carried her over to the bed setting her in my lap as I sat at the edge of the bed. As soon as I sat she turned and straddled me resting her shins on either side of my thighs. I whispered and cooed at her until she stopped crying and her breathing evened out. Once I saw that she was calm again I pulled away slightly to see that she was watching me with wide eyes.

"Why Alice?" I asked in disbelief.

Alice took deep ragged breaths trying to control her emotions and looked up at me, her emerald eyes deep and filled with emotion. "I am so confused and I'm throwing tantrums and yelling at people who don't deserve to be yelled at. I'm not myself anymore Jasper, I don't know who I am anymore but I don't feel like me. I guess I just wanted my outside to match my insides, I look like a stranger now."

We sat looking at each other in silence for several long minutes. "I really fucked up my hair didn't I?" She asked.

Never more then now did I wish I had that polite gene that allows people to give false accolades. "Yeah Alice it's really fucked up, but we can fix it ok."

Alice nodded and we both got up and walked into the bathroom into the restroom where the discarded scissors were in the sink. She was so short I lifted her onto the counter and she sat Indian style facing the mirror as I did my best to even out her hair. Once I got the back and sides straightened out she turned around and let her legs dangle off the edge of the sink as I fixed the front of her hair.

As I continued to measure and cut the atmosphere began to change, I began to hear a buzzing in my ears and her hair felt like silk between my fingers. I wanted to feel that silk brush against my stomach as she took me in her mouth. _Fuck!_

I closed my eyes inhaling sharply. When I opened my eyes Alice was staring up at me, her lips parted slightly. Her chest was heaving and her usually sparkling eyes stood out more than ever against her dark hair.

"Beautiful," I whispered before I could stop myself.

"Jasper," Alice whispered.

_No, no, no, no! _"Alice, I . . ." There were no words to describe the depths of confusion and disgust that I felt for myself.

Alice's face fell, her eyes turning dull and unreadable, a far cry from the girl I had just started to become accustomed to. "I . . . I'm sorry, I thought . . ." She turned away from me and I wanted nothing more then to turn her face back to mine. "I think I should go to sleep now, I am obviously very tired and not thinking straight."

She slid down off of the counter and left the bathroom while I seriously contemplated going to the room next door and asking Garrett to kick my ass. Which he would. Happily.

The room was dark when I walked in but I knew Alice was awake from the level of tension in the room. I went and sat in the armchair in the corner of the room waiting for Garrett's text. It took quite a long time but eventually Alice's breathing evened out and she fell asleep.

I scrubbed at my face with my hands for what had to have been the 10th time in the last hour, the stress of being near Alice was starting to break me. I picked up my Sudoku book and tried to finish the puzzle I had been working on but I just couldn't focus, luckily after a few minutes I got a text from Garrett. He was up and it was time for me to sleep, I got from the chair but as I got to the second bed I saw Alice's backpack sitting in the corner of the room. I went to the bag and pulled the bunny I took from her bed out and tucked it into her side and then went and collapsed into bed.

Just as I was starting to fall asleep I felt the bed dip and a tiny warm body press against my chest, I sighed and accepted my defeat snaking my arm around her waist drawing her closer to me.

"Jasper," Alice whispered. "I just need to be close," She pleaded.

"Shhhhhh Alice, whatever you need from me, you will have it." I said realizing as I said it that not only did I mean every word but that I didn't care if she knew it anymore.

"Anything?" She asked, and it seemed like her whisper echoed through the darkness.

I closed my eyes and pressed my nose into her hair, it smelled of fresh chemicals and vanilla. "Yes, Anything," I answered.

Alice was immersed in her thoughts for a moment and then rolled over so that she was facing me. We lay facing each other for a long moment before she began speaking again. "I need you to save my family, I don't think I could survive if anyone was hurt or worse." She said, her voice trailing off at the end. She took several deep breaths and then leaned in a little closer looking deep into her eyes, "And I need you to love me. I have loved you since you walked out of that elevator and perved on me while I was changing."

Her lips turned up slightly as I openly stared at her. She was so small, warm, and brave. I couldn't pull away from her anymore, I just physically couldn't. "Ok," I answered and then took a deep breath. "Ok to everything."

We spent the rest of the night in complete silence and yet I had never felt so completely exposed in my entire life.

When it was time to get up we still refrained from speaking, we wordlessly showered and dressed. When it was time to leave I stood by the door waiting for Alice. Once she was done packing up her things she brought her bags over and I slung her duffle over my shoulder leaving her to carry her backpack. When I reached for the doorknob she put her hand up to stop me, again we just continued to stare into each other's eyes until finally Alice stretched up on her tip toes and brought her arms up around my neck. Her eyes pleaded with me until finally I spoke making what would hopefully be the last promise I would ever have to make to her.

"I will never pull away from you again Alice, for the rest of my life if you ever need me all you will need to do is look to your side which is where I will be as long as you will have me," And then I finally closed the distance joining our lips, our lives, and our souls.

**A/N**

**Alright, alright. This story has HAUNTED ME!!!!!!! **

**This Edward is HAUNTING ME!!!!!!**

**I wrote the outline to this story several months ago but I only write one story at a time and since I am in the middle of writing the Impasse I left the outline and was waiting until my other story is complete.**

**News flash, this Edward isn't having it. He will not be silent, he has stuff to say and he will not be put off for another day so, here we go.**

**Please let me know your thoughts, hit that review button my sweeties and PS how freaking hot is Dr. Dilf?**

**I have never written a lemon for anyone other than Bella and Edward and this one made me nervous cause honestly, writing that way about Esme makes my stomach heave a little but of all the Twilight characters if I could do one it would be Dr. Daddy DILFisle. **

**Have a good day kids!**


	2. Awakenings

Chapter 2

Awakenings

_Beep . . . .Beep . . . . Beep . . . .Beep_

I don't know when I started counting the beeps that had become the most significant thing in my world. Minutes, hours, maybe even days passed between my sleeping and the excruciating pain of what I assumed was the hospital staff bending and stretching my leg and arm muscles. Bathing me, changing the sheets on my bed, and basically torturing me.

I had been trying to open my eyes for what seemed like years, but they were too heavy, fighting against my desire to wake up and figure out what the hell was happening. So instead I continued on, slipping seamlessly between states of unconsciousness and mostly asleep, counting the beeps.

Today I had a small victory, one hundred and eighty three beeps before I lost the battle and let the darkness take me. The darkness was powerful; it made me feel small and helpless. I was angry at the darkness; it was keeping me from what I wanted. My family, my job, and my life, I wanted it all back.

Instead I slipped back into the darkness.

I stopped counting at ten thousand two hundred and twenty three. It felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest and that shit hurt like a motherfucker! Today would be the day I would push through the fog and open my eyes. I was tired of hearing the hushed voices around me and not knowing who the fuck it was or what they were talking about.

I pushed those thoughts out of my head as I focused on opening my eyes. The fog was so thick, it tired me quickly, and it wanted to maintain its dominance over me, keeping me paralyzed.

It pulled at me softly yet firmly. Its long thin fingers wrapping around me lovingly, lulling me, enticing me into the darkness, just as I was about to give up I heard a soft voice call to me.

My minds eye snapped to attention looking in vain for the source of the voice, the fog refused to part.

_Edward_

I pleaded silently for the voice to continue, I would follow the voice out of the haze. The voice began speaking in a hushed tone, the words ran together almost like a slur. My determination grew as the voice grew clearer and stronger.

_Oh my god, look at him! Is he in pain? What's happening?_

I felt a warmth envelope my hand, it was soft and made me feel safe. It was glorious.

_Edward, can you hear me? If you can hear me squeeze my hand Edward._

I squeezed as hard as I could using every bit of strength I had.

_He did it! He squeezed my hand, it was faint but I definitely felt it._

Faint? What the hell! The voice continued speaking to me and soon I felt the fog parting reluctantly. My eyes began to flutter, they were sensitive to the light but that was put immediately on the back burner as an immense pain radiated throughout my body.

"Motherfucker! Jesus fucking Christ," my throat throbbed from the effort. It was completely dry.

"Leave it to you to make such a charming entrance Edward."

My head snapped towards the voice to see . . . .

"Stinky?"

Alice rolled her eyes but smiled. "Yeah, it's me Boing Boing," she answered with a wry smile as she smoothed my hair back and fuck if even that gentle, sweet gesture didn't hurt like a bitch.

"What the fuck happened to you?" I asked as I looked her over.

"I guess the personality transplant didn't take," Alice deadpanned.

I groaned as I felt a sharp pain in my chest ripple throughout my body. I succumbed once again to the darkness.

When I came to again Alice was sitting by my bedside waiting, holding my hand.

"Water?" She immediately filled a plastic cup and plopped a straw in it bringing it to my lips. I drank greedily until my head fell back onto my pillow as I gasped for air, which of course hurt like a motherfucker.

Once I caught my breath I focused on Alice taking in her very altered appearance. "What the fuck happened to you Stinky?"

Alice squeezed my hand and smiled. "I got in a fight with a bottle of hair dye and some scissors. Obviously they double teamed me and won," she said continuing to smile. But I knew my twin better than I knew myself, there was something going on that she had already decided not to talk about but I knew Alice. A little patience and some roundabout questions would get me the answers to my questions, but not now.

"Where are Mom and Dad? Did they catch Laurent?" I asked clutching my chest where the pain seemed to be concentrated.

"You're going to want to take your hand off of that, wouldn't want to rip _that _wound open."

My eyes snapped in the direction of the voice to find two men sitting in chairs, how the fuck did I miss that? One of the men was Jasper Whitlock, he worked in security for my Dad's company. I had met him a couple of times and each time I got the distinct impression that he knew how to handle himself in a highly trained and scary way. I had never seen the other man before, I would have remembered if I had.

He was humongous. At least 6'6" and probably 230lbs of what appeared to be pure muscle. He had brown curly hair and although his expression was serious his eyes were soft.

"Jasper?" His eyes flickered for a minute and I turned to look at Alice whose expression was disturbingly blank. She should have known better, your expression means shit when you have a twin, we know everything about each other without verbalizing, without having to study each others expressions. Hell, we didn't even have to be in the same room!

"WHITLOCK, are you fucking. . . ." I couldn't bring myself to say it. "Mary Alice," I hissed.

Alice leaned in close and whispered into my ear. "You almost died Edward, these men are very serious about what they do and that is keeping you alive. Maybe you should focus on what's important."

I sighed and turned to look at Jasper and the yet un-named man. "I'm already exhausted, can we debrief after I rest?"

Jasper nodded and sat back into his chair.

The next time I woke up Alice had moved and was sitting next to Jasper. The big guy was asleep and snoring louder than a freight train. How I slept through that shit was a mystery.

"How are you feeling?" Alice asked quietly.

"Tired," I answered glumly. "Always tired and in pain."

Jasper nudged the big guy who startled awake and then broke into a huge smile upon seeing me awake.

"Sleeping Beauty has arisen!" His voice boomed and bounced off of the walls.

Alice and Jasper chuckled, I tried to smile but the pain made it nearly impossible. The big guy came over and stuck his hand out. "Call me Bear, everyone does. I'm one of the nurses assigned to your case, the better of the two I might add."

I shook his hand but eyes him suspiciously. "Don't take this the wrong way Bear but you don't exactly strike me as a nurse."

The huge man-child laughed loudly at my observation and than turned to the many machines that surrounded me reviewing readings and making adjustments. Finally he handed me what looked like a game show buzzer. "Morphine," he explained. "You can hit that button as much or as often as you like and I encourage you to do so. Regardless of how often you press it you will only receive your prescribed dosage but the print outs of how often you are hitting the button will give the doctors a good idea of the kind of pain you are in."

I nodded and pushed the button as Bear picked up a clipboard and sat down making notes in it. Jasper leaned forward in his chair and I shifted slightly freezing up momentarily with pain. Once I breathed my way through it I opened my eyes to find Jasper and Alice studying me carefully.

"Would you like to talk now or get some more rest?" Jasper asked.

"Definitely talk," I answered wryly.

Jasper nodded. "What do you remember?"

I recounted to him the incident at the restaurant all the way up to being shot and loaded into the ambulance. Jasper listened intently as did Alice and Bear.

"Did they catch Laurent?" I already knew the answer based solely on the fact that they were with me.

Jasper shook his head. "No they didn't get him but he didn't exactly get away either. Apparently his bosses were none to pleased at his screw up. His body was found in the alley behind the hospital you were in three days ago in Chicago."

I closed my eyes for a moment letting that information sink in. "Shit," I mumbled knowing exactly what that meant for me, and my family.

My eyes flew open at the thought. "Where are my Mom and Dad?"

"They are safe Edward," Jasper was standing at my bedside now. "We have removed all evidence of contact between you and your father around the time of the incident including the cell phone call you made. If anyone were to look into it they would find two parents who came to visit their unconscious son in the hospital. We created a ruse sending a family of four on the Cullen jet to France. Surely they have figured out they were fooled and that is what ultimately got Laurent killed. There is a certain honor amongst thugs, we have proven your parents to be innocents in this situation. That will pretty much ensure their safety. "

"Where are they now?" I asked wondering what force of nature was keeping my mother from my bedside.

"They can't come here Edward, at all. We have gone through a lot of trouble to create the illusion that they know nothing. We have to assume that they are being watched and monitored. The Volturi will assume that you have gone into witness protection, we cannot have your parents doing anything that might point to an alternative explanation."

"What about my darling little sister here?" I asked afraid of the answer.

"She is in for the long haul Edward, she will stay here until you are strong enough to be moved at which point we will decide what our next move with Alice is going to be."

I knew that this was Alice's decision and as much as I wanted to be mad at her for it I was relieved to have her here. "And the big guy?" I said resting my gaze momentarily on Bear.

"In an effort to keep you safe we have to limit the number of people who are privy to the situation. We have had background checks done on Bear as well as another nurse and cleared them to work with you. They will be staying onsite 24/7 until you are ready to move. They work in 12 hour shifts and Bear's will be ending shortly, you will be meeting your other nurse soon."

I took a deep breath trying to process everything Jasper had said. I leaned back into my pillows and closed my eyes. "Where are we?" I asked determined not to ask anymore questions today.

"We are in an abandoned storage area located in the basement of Virginia Mason Hospital, downtown Seattle. We have quarantined it off and made it so that no one has access without us letting them in. Do to the extent of your injuries we thought it best that we be near emergency medical facilities just in case."

Fuck, this was costing my parents a butt fuck of money. It was a lot to take in all at once and I was exhausted. I felt Alice's presence right next to me. "Rest now Boing Boing, you're exhausted and you need to rest to heal."

I was asleep in seconds.

I felt someone gently pick up my wrist and a surge of electricity flowed through my body. My eyes fluttered open to see a woman taking my pulse, her body was angled away from me. She was very petite, not quite Alice petite but tiny nonetheless. Her thick mahogany hair was up in a ponytail and she wore jeans and a black tee shirt that clung nicely. I was glad I would at least have some eye candy to look at during my recovery.

"Hey," I said hoarsely.

"Hey," she said softly as she gently laid my wrist down and wrote in my chart.

"Are you the cub?" I asked with a small smile. She seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. Bear was humongous in stature hence the name where as she was quite small in comparison.

"My name is Marie Black. I am the other nurse that has been assigned to you." I slowly lifted my hand extending it to shake hers. She took my large calloused hand in her small warm hand and I felt the electricity again. I frowned and looked up at her to see if she noticed, if she did I couldn't see any trace of it in her expression.

"Where did everyone go?" I asked looking at the empty chairs.

Marie sat in one of them and crossed her legs. She was wearing Nike's. "They went to get some sleep and clean up before the shift change although your sister will probably be back sooner than that. She doesn't seem to need as much rest as the normal person, and when she gets tired she just climbs into bed with you and takes a little nap." She smiled at that and I knew my sister had made me look like a softy.

"How long have I been here?" I asked unsure if I really wanted to know the answer.

"Thirteen days." She answered sliding my chart back into place in the pocket at the edge of my bed.

"When can I get up?" I knew staying in bed all day was going to get old really quick.

"The doctor will be here tomorrow to see you and assess your progress. He will most likely do a stress test to see how long you can stand and how much stress it puts on your injuries. Your gunshot was so close to your heart that the wound almost looks like you have had open-heart surgery. We will be meticulous in making sure that you do not tear the wound open in your hurry to get out of here."

I was already feeling tired after only having been up about ten minutes. I looked at her again and then something clicked. "You've been talking to me? While I have been sleeping, you've been talking to me."

Marie blushed and picked up the book sitting on the chair next to her. "I have been reading to you." She said softly.

I continued to study her, as I stared she seemed to get irritated with my scrutiny. "It's impolite to stare you know," She spat.

Ahhh, the kitten sharpens her tiny claws. I smirked and closed my eyes falling asleep quickly, hoping I would dream of Nurse Marie.

"Hmmmm, I think we'll start you out by standing twice a day, once you are fully on your feet we will shoot for one minute. That should pretty much wear you out for the remainder of the day."

I rolled my eyes at the doc but kept my mouth shut.

"Lets continue with that until my next visit the day after tomorrow. We will reassess at that point."

The doctor took Bear and Marie aside conferring with them for several moments before nodding at me and taking his leave.

"So, you wanna try now?" Bear asked enthusiastically.

"Let's do this," I said grinning.

Marie moved all of the tubes and wires carefully out of the way and then came to stand by me.

"Edward," her expression was very serious and I kinda felt like I was in elementary school getting scolded for sticking gum in the pretty girls hair. "Bear and I are going to stand on either side of you and we are each going to put an arm around your waist. You are going to put one arm around my shoulders and try to put the other around Bear's then, we will slowly stand together."

Marie turned her head to shoot a withering glance at Bear. "Bear is going to try and not do anything to stupid like standing up to quickly or standing up to his full height or basically anything outside of the very specific instructions I have given."

Bear snorted and rolled his eyes smiling at me. I had to admit, I was kind of afraid he was going to make some bone head move as well but he was so damn funny it was hard to care.

Marie and Bear both carefully brought me to a sitting position on the edge of the bed and then sat on either side of me. Once I felt ready I nodded my head and they slowly began to rise. The pain was excruciating, all of my muscles were soft and felt like Jello. Even the slightest movement around the gunshot wound in my chest shot through my body felling like I was getting shot all over again.

It seemed to take hours until I was all the way upright. Once I was standing on my own I took some time to make sure I was steady and then nodded again to Bear and Marie.

They slowly moved away from me as Marie timed the minute on her watch. "Thirty more . . . twenty . . . ten . . . five . . . Ok, your done."

I was dying, the pain from standing one fucking minute was excruciating. Bear and Marie didn't even have me completely back in bed before I had fallen asleep.

It had been two weeks since that first attempt at standing, I was now able to stand and walk all around my small room several times before I needed to rest. After finishing one of my marathon room walking sessions and falling into a deep sleep I felt myself slowly coming to.

I could hear a hushed voice in the distance, as I started to wake the voice became clearer. She was reading to me again. Her voice was so low I couldn't make out the words. I opened my eyes but was careful to keep my breath even.

She was sitting at the edge of my bed indian style, slightly hunched over her book. Minutes went by as I watched my nurse reading mostly to herself, her shoulders were tight like she was ready to spring. I wondered what had her wound up like that. She was stuck in this basement for a undetermined period of time, maybe she missed her friends and family. Maybe she had a boyfriend, she _was_ beautiful. A woman that beautiful surely had a boyfriend.

There was something about nurse Marie that caused every red flag I had to fly. I couldn't put my finger on it but something was up. Everything about her, her posture, her demeanor, her tone of voice, said beware. I wanted to know every single secret and it was obvious to me that she had many.

In the two short weeks since I had woken up and met my medical dream team my relationship with Marie had quickly disintegrated. We seemed to rub each other the wrong way at almost every turn. We snapped and grated at each other. We wielded sarcasm as our weapon of choice constantly trying to one up the other. Yet the hours I spent with her was the only time that I didn't feel completely alone.

When Marie's shift was over I felt as if my world shifted into darkness. I tried my hardest to sleep through every minute of her time off of my service but Bear wouldn't allow it.

He would wake me to play video games, watch sports, talk smack to me, whatever it was that he was in the mood for. And he watched me, carefully, all of the time. Once while we were playing Halo I tried to casually bring up Marie and get some intel.

Bad move.

The normally light hearted and boisterous Bear paused the game and turned to look at me straight on. "Don't go there Edward, trust me on this one. She is not a conquest, she is not some chick you 'Fuck and Duck' or try on to see if she works or not." Bear looked down and I could sense a heaviness about him. The sorrow and grief radiated from his every pour. "She deserves something extraordinary Edward, she's been through some fucked up shit that you couldn't even imagine and she deserves some serious once in a lifetime crazy amazing movie perfect shit. Not some punk stepping up to a challenge, you get my drift?"

I nodded, something about the way he said it. The way pain laced through his words etched his face made me afraid.

Bear nodded at me satisfied that understood the gravity of the situation. "You parents have spent a metric butt fuck of money to make sure you get better Edward. I will not hesitate to make every cent of it a waste."

His words meant to instill fear in me made me even more curious. A soft lilting voice washed over me warming me from within. "It's not polite to stare you know," she said without looking up.

I smiled, and it hurt. "I was just enjoying being in someone's presence without them asking me if I'm in pain or poking at me."

"I would be the worst nurse ever if I stopped poking you and asking you if you're in pain," she said softly. I watched her expression closely, another mystery. Every crinkle around her eyes, every line in her lips, every scrunch of her nose a mystery.

We continued to stare at each other for several moments, sizing each other up. One thing was clear, there would be no trust, no friendship forged over my recovery. She would make sure of it, make sure to hold me at arms length.

"Stop it!" She snapped jumping off of my bed. She inadvertently jolted me, I groaned as the pain ran through me.

"Fuck!" She hissed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." She said making some adjustments to my morphine drip and then pushing the button releasing a dose. I felt a warm calming numbness ebbing my pain.

"Please tell me what the fuck you want me to stop doing. I will seriously fucking consider it," I choked.

My head snapped in her direction as a delicate giggle floated through the air massaging my pain away like an anesthetic.

"You never should have tipped your hand Cullen. You've revealed your weakness to me, you should know better," the smile was evident in her voice. She was fucking laughing at me.

The pain was almost completely gone, I stared at her dumbfounded wondering if I would ever get her. "What did I do?"

Her smile vanished and I could see the walls go up around her, a mask veiling her every expression. "You're staring at me like I'm a puzzle to solve," she said dryly.

"Aren't you?"

She narrowed her eyes at me and picked up my wrist in one hand while checking her watch to count my pulse. Once she was done she made a notation in my chart and then moved on to check my other vitals. I watched her carefully taking in all of her expressions and memorizing every mannerism. She was the most interesting person I had ever encountered.

"God you need a hobby, I can't be anywhere near that interesting," she said glumly.

Spell broken, in the real world where I could function like a regular human being I would have told the PMS queen to go fuck herself with her shitty little attitude. But this wasn't the real world and we couldn't escape each other. Telling her to fuck off would only alert her to the fact that she had the power to anger me. So instead, I would toy with her.

"I hear that there are new medications that help with the mood swings that seem to control your irrational hormonal reactions during your special time of the month." I said smugly picking up a magazine from the nightstand and pretending to flip through it.

I peeked at her through the corner of my eye feeling satisfied at her horrified expression. I continued to flip pages while secretly gazing at her enjoying her expression when a smug smile slowly spread across her face. _Huh?_

"I'm gonna go grab your dinner, let me know if you find any tips worth sharing in there ok?" I tried not to stare at her ass as she sashayed confidently out of the room. Ok, that's a lie, I did nothing _but _stare at her ass as she sashayed out the door. Once she was out of sight I turned the magazine around to look at the cover and scowled. 'Woman's World' was not exactly the magazine that would help me carry off my ruse. I scanned the cover to see that the main article of the issue was 'How to Make Him Pop His Cork', _fuck me!._

I threw the magazine onto the chair and continued to scowl until I heard her giggle from the door. My scowl deepened until she set the tray in front of me and pulled the lid off of the plate. A burger and French fries, my eyes widened and I looked up at her in surprise.

"I thought you deserved a special treat," she said smiling as she sat in the chairs by my bed.

I continued to stare at the plate suddenly ravenous. "Hey Marie, would you eat with me?" I asked softly, I knew there was a good chance of rejection here.

Her tongue darted out sweeping her bottom lip between her teeth as she quickly contemplated my request before smiling softly and rising silently and leaving the room. She returned a few moments later and climbed onto my bed on the opposite side of my hospital bed table setting her own plate with a burger and fries down.

We ate quietly with me commenting briefly of how this was the best burger I had ever had in my life and her smiling and laughing softly at my hyperbole. Although she was enjoying herself she clearly still had her defenses up. What the hell was up with that?

"So Nurse Marie, tell me about you." I said as casually as possible.

Marie eyed me cautiously as she chewed on her burger. "What do you want to know? She asked covering her mouth with her hand as she spoke.

_A defensive response, she will not just give up any information. She is cautious, reserved, and possibly even shy. I'll start with any easy one. _"Where are you from?"

She took a small bite and chewed it avoiding my gaze. Finally she swallowed and took a drink of her coke meeting my gaze. "I am from Olympia. Do you like BBQ?"

_Huh?_

"I am a man Nurse Marie, yes I love BBQ."

"There is this place in Olympia called Ranch House BBQ. Oh my god it is sublime, if you're ever in the neighborhood you have to go there!"

I smiled at her enthusiasm making a mental note of the place for future reference.

"Brothers and sisters?" I asked.

"Nope, just me." She answered.

I took another large bit and chewed slowly welcoming the opportunity to study her.

"So Edward, tomorrow the doctor is going to remove your catheter. We feel like you are strong enough to make it to the bathroom now." She smiled. "We are also slowly going to amp up your physical therapy and dial down the pain meds."

I swallowed hard and smiled wholeheartedly at her. "Now there's something to look forward to!"

Marie smiled warmly at me and then picked up out dirty dishes and Coke cans. "Get some rest Edward, our going to need it. Bear will be here shortly if you need anything."

I nodded sinking back into the pillows as she walked towards the door. "Hey Marie," she paused to look at me expectantly. "Thanks, you know, for everything."

Marie averted her gaze uncomfortably. "It was no problem, in fact it was nice having a halfway decent moment with you for once." With that she turned and left.

I closed my eyes and felt sleep overtaking me. Just before I drifted off my eyes flew open and I laughed heartily. She had expertly sidestepped my questioning and shifted my attention elsewhere.

I smiled into the darkness, she was a master manipulator and I fucking loved it. _Marie Black, what are your secrets? What could such a beautiful, smart, woman who oozed radiance have to hide?_

I would find out.

Ok here's the deal. I will be updating this story on a more regular schedule but the chapters will be about half the size of the first chapter.

Sorry kids but I am writing another story AND I am a social worker in a completely shitty economy, which means, I totally fucking busy.

So, Edward's back! Not gonna lie, I am pretty freakin excited about that!

Please review and tell me what you are loving, hating and everything in between.

xoxo,

B~


End file.
